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While You Were Offline: Maybe Rudy Can Fail

May 7, 2018

Last week was so busy that we barely got to talk about failed Senate candidate Roy Moore filing a lawsuit claiming sexual misconduct allegations against him threw off his 2017 campaign. There also wasn't much time to talk about Stormy Daniels suing President Trump for defamation, or Paul Ryan’s surreal war with the House Chaplin, or even the fact that there’s a volcano erupting in Hawaii. Seriously. It’s been a helluva week. But what have people been talking about, you wonder? Glad you asked. That’s why we’re all here, after all.

Trump's Legal Line-Up Changes Once Again

What Happened: The old order changeth once more for the president’s legal team, which saw one familiar face leave and another, particularly unlikely, familiar face come back into view.

What Really Happened: Last week was a big one for those following President Donald Trump’s legal woes, with one of the biggest stories starting midweek, thanks to yet another defection from the team.

Unsurprisingly, the departurewasbignewsacrossthemedia, with Ty Cobb joining the list of high-profile figures leaving the administration in unlikely circumstances. Whatever could have caused such a decision, people wondered?

There’s something genuinely breathtaking about Trump hiring a former Clinton attorney, given, you know, almosteverythinghe’seversaid. And they said irony was dead. Although, as it turned out, Emmet Flood has some strong Republican bona fides, too.

Poor Sean Hannity didn’t know how right he was—although perhaps he didn’t expect the exact reason why people wouldn’t want to miss it. After all, Hannity is where Republican figures go for softballs and support, not to break news. Well, usually…

For the record, and somewhat fascinatingly, Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen is apparently denying the Giuliani version of events, which probably isn’t a good sign for those in the Trump camp hoping that he won’t flip on the president.

The Takeaway: If nothing else, this did make the Trump legal drama seem even more like a particularly exciting—if utterly insane—television drama.

I’d Tell You Everything If You Pick Up That Telephone Yeah Yeah Yeah

What Happened: Things just do not seem to be going Michael Cohen’s way, although it turned out not to be as bad as the news might have led you to believe.

What Really Happened: Meanwhile, let’s look at what else was going on with Trump’s one-time favorite personal lawyer, Michael Says Who? Cohen. He’s already at the center of the Giuliani thing and last week invoked the Fifth Amendment in ongoing litigation surrounding the payment to Stormy Daniels, so it’s not as if anything else could happen for him, right?

Doctor, Doctor Gimme the News

What Happened: Continuing the return of minor characters from Trumpworld, last week brought news that perhaps everything the electorate believed about the president’s health was, well, not what it seemed.

What Really Happened: Look, we know; this roundup seems to be all about Trump's lawyers. Luckily, there are other things that people were talking about. Like, for example, the president’s doctor. No, not his present personal physician who dropped out of contention to lead the VA and is now unlikely to return to his medical post at the White House because of all the furor. His other doctor.

Remember Dr. Harold Bornstein? He was the MD that released a letter during the 2016 election stating that, if elected, Donald Trump would be “the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency,” a concept that resulted in much disbelief and derision. Well, he returned to the headlines last week in an entirely unexpected manner, revealing that his office had been raided by Trump’s bodyguard and his records seized following the election.

Kanye West's Controversy Tour Continues

What Happened: Kanye West continued to torch his reputation with an appearance on TMZ that had to be seen to be believed.

What Really Happened: Let’s turn our attention from the chaos within Trump’s inner circles—or at least, quasi-inner circles—to the chaos amongst Trump’s famous fanbase. In other words, here's the latest from Kanye West.

You can see the whole episode here if you have 45 minutes free, but let’s cut to the chase. During the interview, West said the following: "When you hear about slavery for 400 years. For 400 years? That sounds like a choice." He also said "I like the word 'prison' because 'slavery' goes too direct to the idea of blacks. Slavery is to blacks as the Holocaust is to Jews." Suffice to say, peoplenoticedandtheyweren’texactlythrilled.